Photography Business: PicScout and PhotoShelter Partner to Assure That Every Photographer's Image Gets Its Credit

Partnership Gives Photographers Access to PicScout Technology; Provides a Clear Path to License PhotoShelter Images No Matter Where They Reside Online

NEW YORK, NY and SILICON VALLEY, CA--(Marketwire - February 18, 2010) - PicScout, the worldwide standard for image credit, information, and commerce, and PhotoShelter, the leader in websites and online tools for serious photographers, today announced a partnership to automatically include PhotoShelter photographers' images in the PicScout ImageIRC™ (index, registry and connection platform). This partnership gives individual photographers access to the same powerful PicScout technology used by major image libraries worldwide, enabling them to connect with more image buyers and ensure critical metadata remains accessible to image users anywhere online.

Once included in PicScout's ImageIRC, PhotoShelter photographers' images will be identified by PicScout's ImageExchange™ add-on which populates an (i) icon on images wherever they are used online. This universally recognized (i) icon provides valuable information to image users while they're searching for new images to license or purchase, and in one click provides a direct connection back to the PhotoShelter photographer's e-commerce page to facilitate legitimate image sales. Kicking off the partnership will include initially enrolling eight million publicly available and priced PhotoShelter images in the PicScout ImageIRC, complete with identification and ownership information that allows for immediate transactions.

"Our partnership with PicScout gives our photographers a truly tangible way to increase image sales by allowing their images to be identified with PicScout's ImageExchange. When image users encounter one of our photographer's images online, whether it be via a search engine, at a content website, or wherever an image resides, the user will be provided a very obvious link directly back to the photographer's e-commerce enabled site on PhotoShelter," said PhotoShelter CEO Allen Murabayashi. "With PicScout, our photographers not only will enjoy a new channel for image buyers to discover and license their work, they also are assured that image ownership and attribution is clearly identified, which provides greater image protection and promotion. We are proud to be partnered with PicScout in this important endeavor that brings great value to our current and new photographers."

Serious photographers rely on PhotoShelter as their complete online solution to display, market, sell, and archive their photography. During the initial PicScout ImageIRC roll-out period, compensation to PicScout for image sales derived through the PicScout ImageExchange will be waived, and all PhotoShelter photographers' publicly searchable and priced images will be automatically enrolled. Following the initial trial period, financial terms will be announced and photographers will have the opportunity to continue or opt-out. During subsequent phases, PhotoShelter and PicScout will also expand services to include PicScout's ImageTracker product.

"Our partnership with PhotoShelter delivers on a promise we made to photographers everywhere to find solutions for them to participate in the PicScout ImageIRC. During the initial phase, we are delivering our value proposition for image promotion and transaction through the highly respected PhotoShelter platform. We bring strong support to photographers in their ongoing efforts to secure, identify and equip their images for transaction across the digital landscape," said PicScout CEO Offir Gutelzon. "PhotoShelter is a model for how images enrolled in the PicScout ImageIRC can benefit from PicScout's ImageExchange add-on, which connects image owners with image buyers through any service or platform."

The many millions of images now available through PicScout ImageIRC™ can be recognized by anyone equipped with the free PicScout ImageExchange™ browser add-on. Image buyers, whether they are creative pro, designers or communication workers using the ImageExchange™ browser add-on, will recognize PhotoShelter enrolled images every time they are online, whether conducting an image search, browsing at a particular site, or anywhere on the internet. Wherever they may appear, ImageIRC images are noted with the universal information symbol, a small encircled "i" icon. Clicking on the icon reveals a box of metadata where ownership is identified along with an option to click and transact for use. Owners and buyers are made aware of each other and connected at the point of encounter.

PhotoShelter has been educating photographers in the value of metadata and SEO to maximize the potential for use of their images, and now offers a suite of tools that help photographers spread their work online through SEO and social media. In 2009, 61% of image buyers surveyed by PhotoShelter claimed to use search engines in their efforts to find new photos and photographers.

Enrolled photographers are advised to promote ImageExchange among their customer bases, so potential buyers who have installed the free tool will always be able to recognize and transact for the photographer's work wherever they see it online.

Photographers and media are invited to join a webinar on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 3 PM EST, as PhotoShelter CEO Allen Murabayashi and PicScout CEO Offir Gutelzon will discuss the complete details of the new partnership, including rollout timing and future plans. Register here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/203535395.

About PhotoShelter

PhotoShelter is the leader in portfolio websites, photo sales and archiving tools for photographers.

Over 50,000 photographers worldwide use PhotoShelter to power their success online, with customizable website templates, searchable photo galleries, e-commerce capabilities, and bulletproof image storage. Photographers can create a professional PhotoShelter website in under five minutes, or customize PhotoShelter to power their existing photography website. A true solution designed to make the business of photography easier to manage -- PhotoShelter offers image security, global accessibility, and advanced marketing tools so photographers can make their images work harder for them. To join our community, visit www.PhotoShelter.com. To read our free reports with online marketing insights for photographers, visit http://www.photoshelter.com/ref/FREEREPORTS.

About PicScout

Founded in 2002, PicScout™, is the worldwide standard for image credit, information, and commerce. Through its proprietary and highly scalable image recognition and identification technology, PicScout created the image copyright protection marketplace through its widely used ImageTracker™ product and is now leading the way for image commerce to become a legitimate Internet economy. A financially independent, privately held company, PicScout has offices in the Silicon Valley and Hertzella, Israel. The company's products ImageTracker™ and ImageExchange™ utilize the company image IRC™ service platform which is based on its proprietary image recognition technology for its index, metadata registry and API connection to provide a wide variety of solutions involving image protection, ownership, identification, commerce, as well as business intelligence. PicScout is a member of PACA www.pacaoffice.org, CEPIC www.cepic.org, and BAPLA www.bapla.org.uk.